Following divisive election, Bay Area clergy tread delicate line between politics and faith

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Rev. Jay Matthews leads the morning Mass at the Cathedral of Christ the Light on Thursday, Nov. 17. Religious leaders like Father Matthews are trying to heal the divides created by the presidential election. (Laura A. Oda/Bay Area News Group)

The emails and phone calls started arriving in Rev. Kenneth Parris’ inbox as soon as the election results were clear.

Like many in the liberal Bay Area, some parishioners at St. James Episcopal Church in Fremont were stunned to learn that a man who has called for mass deportations of undocumented Latino immigrants, favored a ban on Muslim immigrants and bragged about groping women would become the next president of the United States. But while most of his congregation supported Hillary Clinton for president, a solid quarter favored Donald J. Trump, creating a rift that Parris had to try to bridge.

“I tried to remind folks that regardless what happens in an election, our role is to live the gospel and do something about the injustices of the world,” Parris said. “Shelter the homeless. Feed the hungry. It helped people hold on to hope and give them something to do when many are feeling so overwhelmed.”

In the wake of an election that exposed divisions and conflict not seen in a quarter century, spiritual leaders like Parris are trying to heal the wounds and bring their flocks together — even if those congregations have differing opinions of what the election means for them, their country and their faiths.

With some of the national soul-searching playing out in churches, synagogues and other places of worship, it has also meant a delicate balancing act for many Bay Area clergy who try to walk a fine line when it comes to mixing politics and religion.

At B’nai Tikvah, a reform synagogue in Walnut Creek, Rabbi Rebecca Gutterman cautiously side-stepped direct critiques of the election in the run-up to Nov. 8, instead speaking in general terms about hate language and bigotry that run counter to Jewish values, such as looking out for the vulnerable, she said. After Trump was elected, members decided to work on preserving reproductive rights, fighting climate change and improving interfaith dialogue, Gutterman said.

“As a religious leader, you always have to ask yourself, ‘How do I validate the dignity and humanity of all of my listeners, including people with who you vehemently disagree?'” she said.

Voting preferences typically don’t fall neatly within any single religion, and the 2016 election was no exception. Fifty-two percent of Catholics voted for Trump, while 45 percent favored Clinton, according to the Pew Research Center. The divide was driven by ethnicity, with 60 percent of white Catholics and 26 percent of Hispanic Catholics voting for Trump.

Among Jews, 71 percent chose Clinton, while the opposite was true for evangelical Christians, with 81 percent lending their support to Trump, despite his mocking of people with disabilities, vulgar comments about women and extra-marital affairs.

“Evangelicals aren’t looking for a pastor in chief, they’re looking for a commander in chief,” said Dick Bernal, senior pastor at Jubilee Christian Center in San Jose, a mega-church that boasts some 5,000 worshipers. “John F. Kennedy, Bill Clinton, they were also womanizers, we all know that. But evangelicals tend to vote the Republican line, and the big-ticket items for us are economy, national security, immigration and who best represents our core values. We have many congregations where people need jobs.”

Bernal was one of the numerous faith leaders President-elect Trump met with four years ago when he contemplated a run for the White House. The charismatic church leader advised against it, telling Trump to get his own radio show instead. He declined to disclose whom he voted for but has preached a message of inclusiveness, urging even those congregants who opposed Trump to give the president-elect a chance.

“We’re all Americans and we all want this country to be strong and safe, no matter what side of the aisle you’re on,” Bernal said.

For some spiritual leaders, the challenge is more about building understanding with other groups than healing divisions within, particularly in the wake of a series of hate crimes that many attribute to the divisive rhetoric of the campaign. Since Nov. 8, there have been 435 hate incidents across the country, many of them in schools and targeted at Muslims and other minority religious groups, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, a national organization that fights hate and bigotry.

In Berkeley, a group of men threatened to pull off a Muslim student’s head scarf off, taunting her that there was now a new president. A San Jose State student also wearing a hijab said someone pulled her head scarf off her head, choking her. And in Fremont, a non-Muslim woman wearing a kerchief returned to her car to find a note saying “Hijab wearing b—- this is our nation now get the f— out.”

Zahra Billoo, executive director of the Bay Area chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, encouraged Bay Area residents to get to know more Muslims and members of other targeted groups and wear a safety pin to show that they are allies. The safety pin became a symbol of tolerance and support in Great Britain following the Brexit vote earlier this year.

“One of the key ways we are going to change what’s happening is through community relationships; people getting to know each other and speaking up for each other,” Billoo said.

As the shock of the election wears off for Democrats, some clergy have sought to put the election in a larger historical context. At Cathedral of Christ the Light in Oakland, made up of many immigrants from Mexico, Central America, Vietnam and Africa, the Rev. Jay Matthews gave a homily titled “Troubled Times Don’t Last Forever,” reminding his flock that Catholics have faced many tribulations through the centuries — wars, famines, death — but were able to overcome them through faith and perseverance.

“I couldn’t lift people out of their sadness, but I could offer a message of hope,” said Matthews.

Others have urged their members to engage in political conversations with people they don’t agree with, even if the natural tendency is to avoid such uncomfortable talk.

“We have encouraged people not to stay in their liberal silos and instead talk to family members who have different politics from them, or not to unfriend people they don’t agree with on Facebook,” said Rev. Kristin Schmidt, who co-leads the Unitarian Universalist Church of Berkeley. “We can find common ground on the issues that we do share while saying that we are not going tolerate racist or sexist comments.”

Karina Ioffee covers the city of Richmond and West Contra Costa County. She has been a reporter for 15 years and has won numerous awards for her work, including from the Overseas Press Club. She speaks Spanish and Russian and is a former competitive gymnast. When not working, she likes to do yoga, cycle and dance.

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